Friday, May 21, 2010 … Rome
In how many languages can you say my feet are tired? It’s late Friday afternoon, Melinda and I are back at the hotel siesta-ing and resting feet while Joe is … not sure where he is … she and I got off the metro at the Repubblica station and he kept going. While eating a delicioso (I think that’s Spanish, but English doesn’t do it justice) 2 pm buffet lunch at Perilli in Prati, a few blocks from the Vatican, Melinda said, “I think we’ve seen everything in Rome.” Joe pulled out our guide book, started flipping pages and said, “No, there are things we haven’t seen ….” Though the word ‘buffet’ is French, I wonder if buffets in restaurants is an American thing … all you can eat … a bit of everything.
The group of 7 adults seated near us ordered off the menu. They were speaking Spanish and one of the women pulled out an Italian/Spanish dictionary from her bag. Melinda half listened to their conversation, sometimes chuckling. It was a wonderful meal, complete with beer and water. We order water with ‘no gas’ so we don’t get carbonated water. Today we ordered it ‘naturale’, forgot to ask Joe if we were charged for it as it came in a carafe, not a sealed bottle. (Yes, paid 2 euro for it.)
Afterward, in the metro, Joe unloaded water bottles and umbrellas from his pack, took the camera and said he was going back to the Roman Forum, or maybe Palatine Hill, or maybe Capitol Hill. It works for us …. gives me a chance to write a little bit and Melinda is snoozing.
Lunch was memorable because we very much wanted a good one. As we were leaving the Vatican Museums, Melinda said, “If we have a lunch today like we did yesterday, I’m going somewhere else afterward and ordering a second one.” Today was a winner. Yesterday, after hours in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, we saw a little orange store front restaurant on a side street which looked family-run and intimate. It was the worst restaurant meal in the universe. Should have not allowed ourselves to be seated. Should have found a place where a lot of nuns were eating … they must know the area. There weren’t any nuns in this place. It was family-owned and they were fighting with each other, yelling in the seating area, yelling on the sidewalk near the outdoor tables, yelling from the front counter to the kitchen. An expressionless woman came to our table, with pen and pad, “Si?”, and took our order. Looked like Papa was in charge; he seemed to not like the young man (son?) who seemed to not like him. I wonder if the woman was scared of the guy (her husband?) Lots of yelling between the men. Two women quickly paid and left as we came in; a table of 6 people sat very quietly, ate, paid and left. That left us. We ate our marginal meal, paid, and had to literally squeeze between the young man and the dirty counter during more yelling in order to leave.
I’m thinking it wasn’t just a family, but a “FAMILY”. And the restaurant was not really a restaurant, but a front for “family” business. And the young guy had made a mistake … maybe a huge mistake. And the woman didn’t want to be there, but didn’t want to leave her sons, so she was trapped. She was wearing what looked like a blue housecoat over black pants … because the Papa had taken all her clothes? And the ‘good’ son was following orders, doing what he was told. Joe thinks it was just a family who was yelling at each other and serving not very good food.
Two days ago I made an online reservation for 9 a.m. tickets for today for the Musei Vaticani. Left here at 8:15 a.m., took the metro to the Ottaviano stop, and walked. And walked. And walked more past long lines of people waiting to get in and buy tickets. We entered through the “reservation” door, were eyeballed by the clothing polizio (no bare shoulders or too much leg showing), went through security, sailed over to the ticket booth to pick them up. (Should have made reservations before we left the U.S., so I feel fortunate to have received tickets for today.) Rented audio guides … always have to leave your driver’s license or passport at the audio guide counter … does anyone actually want to take those things home?
The Musei Vaticani consists of about a dozen self-contained museums with over 1400 rooms. You can’t see it all. But we tried. You start out listening to every audio guide stop and since the first collection is the Egyptian collection, it’s all pretty interesting. There is an unwrapped mummy in his coffin …. then a woman in her coffin, not mummified with head, hands and feet exposed. The info pointed out that her hair was dyed red with henna. Her right eye had a piece of cloth over it … learned that her brain was most likely removed through that eye. We saw the scarabs placed on her chest to help give her safe passage. Melinda leaned in and said, “Her inside is filled with sawdust.” She learned that during her 2 weeks in Egypt. I wondered who she was, what her life was like. Children? Content? How did she die? Next was the wrapped mummy in his coffin. In about room 8, Joe said, “We need a plan or we’ll never make it through to the Sistine Chapel.” All roads in the museum lead to the Sistine Chapel.
Frescoes, paintings, sculptures, mosaics, marble floors, painted and gilded ceilings and walls … everywhere you look there is something. And then more, lots more. The Rick Steves’ ROME guidebook says that, in his opinion, you leave either because 1) you’ve died, 2) it has closed or 3) 2 ½ hours have passed. We spent 4 ½ hours in it. There’s a rare deep red stone, porphery (something like that … don’t have internet access to check an online dictionary … am saving this as a word document until the hotel’s internet is working and I can send it) … and our St. Peter’s Basilica guide told us yesterday that 75% of the world’s supply of this stone is in the Vatican City (an independent sovereign state, 109 acres, in the heart of Rome.) We walked on a huge circle inlay of it in St. Peter’s. In the museum, we saw an enormous basin made out of this stone, I think it was 13 meters (over 40 feet) in diameter. And tall, very tall. It once stood in a public place in the Roman Forum. Saw two very high and deep sarcophaguses (sarcophagi??), coffins, that were used in Constantine’s family … one for his wife (and later a pope) and one for a daughter. Each had intricate carvings on all sides. I wonder what the “finders” do with the dust and bones or is nothing left inside? Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. And the marble … were has all the marble come from? Marble floors, marble statues, marble everywhere.
After a few hours my mind was becoming numb from too much information, too much antiquity, too much history, too much … too much. And I love information and history. THEN … we entered the Sistine Chapel … a long oval room. It was filled with people speaking all kinds of languages, though the Italian guards tried to shush people, said talking was not allowed. Picture taking was definitely not allowed. A hushed atmosphere would have been appropriate, but hard when hundreds of people are standing shoulder to shoulder looking straight up, on all sides, all around. I want to read a biography of Michelangelo … may have one at home … our St. Peter’s guide referred to him many times as a crazy genius. He didn’t want to paint the chapel, but the pope cajoled, begged, threatened and Michelangelo said yes. He spent 4 years (1508-1512) lying on his back painting the ceiling … paint dripping in his face … if he wanted to change something he had to plaster over it and begin again. The room is 5900 square feet of space, he painted the vast majority. Scaffolding was 6 stories high. The pope wanted him to paint the 12 apostles, but he decided he would paint the history of mankind up to Jesus. He also designed the dome of St. Peter’s, based on the Pantheon dome. Yesterday in St. Peter’s, we saw Pieta, the sculpture he did of Mary holding the body of Jesus. Took him 2 years, from ages 22-24. He believed it was as important to find the right block of marble as to do the sculpting; that the figures are in the marble waiting for the excess to be peeled away.
After the Sistine Chapel, we went to the Pinacoteca rooms, paintings and tapestries … saw Rafael’s Transfiguration painting … the last thing he painted before dying at age 37, in 1520, was Jesus’ face in it, considered possibly the most beautiful rendition of his face. Rafael is buried in a crypt in the Pantheon (saw it) and the painting was brought to his funeral. Across from The Transfiguration, in the same room, hangs his tapestry of the Last Supper. It fills up the entire wall and is behind glass. Saw da Vinci’s painting, St. Jerome. Gaunt and harsh.
Joe’s back …. he revisited some ruins, went into a church built in 600 with 120 steps to it from the street. Historically women have crawled up the steps on their knees … to get pregnant, a fertility thing.
We have to check out tomorrow by 10:30 a.m., stash our luggage and take a cab later to the airport (about a 40 minute crazy cab ride from here) as our flight to Heathrow/London leaves at 9:15 p.m. (Joe thought he booked an a.m. flight but this will work fine. We better allow at least 45 minutes for a crazy cab ride.) We’ve rented a car at the airport and will get it Sunday morning. I’m the designated driver for next week in England and Scotland as I have an international driving permit and Joe doesn’t want to drive. His sense of left and right has never been very strong and it’s going to be really important to be aware of left and right. I’m a bit apprehensive. Would like a WalMart parking lot to practice in before driving away from the airport. We’re not going into London … decided to see rural areas by car. We have a 2 night stay in an Edinburgh bed and breakfast next Tues/Wed … can leave the car and take the bus into the city. Other than those 2 nights, we don’t yet have a clue what next week holds. I think we’re all looking forward to simpler towns and villages, more grass and trees, fewer vehicles and crowds. We leave London … volcanic ash willing … May 30, Melinda at 8:30 a.m. and Joe and I two hours later. We shipped 55 pounds of her clothing and books to Nebraska from Bilbao, but we’re hauling the rest with us. Should have shipped 2 boxes.
We flew from Barcelona to Rome Tuesday morning and took a cab from the airport to Hotel Nardizzi Americana … all 4th floor rooms of an old building on a tiny narrow street that is jammed with motorcycles and is across from the ministry of defense or something like that. Lots of polizia in the area. When our cab driver dropped us off, he grunted about the heavy luggage, so I tried to explain in a combination of English, Melinda’s help with Spanish and maybe a French word or two, that she had studied in Spain and was now going home. He drove wonderfully, but traffic is unbelievable … I bet his wife thanks God every night when he walks in alive. I told Melinda and Joe if I ever say I want to drive in Rome to please shoot me.
We’re fairly close to the main train station and close to a metro stop. Cars park on sidewalks if streets are too narrow to allow for both parking and driving. It appears motorcycles park wherever they want to. People cross busy streets, sometimes with 6 lanes of traffic, with no pedestrian lights … you start walking and vehicles are supposed to stop. So far it’s worked. Melinda forges out in front and leads the way. She said this is easy compared to crossing streets in Cairo. There, she and her friends grabbed hands and started running, dodging … said if one got hit they would all get hit. Have been watchful for pickpockets … I’m quite sure the 2 young guys who tore out of a metro car last night at the Flamini stop and ran up the stairs 3 at a time had other peoples’ crossbody bags on them. I didn’t like that area … my gut was saying don’t dawdle, get moving. We crossed the street into the Piazza del Popolo where Melinda turned away a couple men-with-roses-scammers and it got better. The obelisk in that square once stood in/near the palace of Ramses II in Egypt. We walked to the Spanish Steps and the fountain in front of it … sat on the cement benches surrounding the fountain and watched people. Watched the sun set behind the Spanish Embassy (I think that’s what it was, and has been for 300 years.) Watched lights come on. Down one of the streets were Gucci, Dior, Yves St. Laurent. Didn’t go in any of them. The British poet Keats died in the narrow pink building next to the Spanish Steps and Lord Byron lived for a time on the other side of the fountain. I love that stuff.
On the first floor of this building is an opera theater. We’ve heard people practicing. Also on the first floor is an Italian Korean Methodist Church. I think people may live on the 2nd floor. The Oceania Hotel occupies the 3rd floor and Nardizzi Americana is on the 4th … all are a square with the center open to the sky. Very quaint, very old, very unlike American chains. Melinda said it looks and feels like a hostel, smells like a hotel. (She has stayed in some not so nice hostels.) We have a room with a double bed and a single bed and a tiny balcony with narrow French doors that looks across the open area to the entrance hallway to the hotel. We can hear people in the hotel’s reception area from our room. Samy … a 30 something man with lots of curly hair and a beautiful smile … has been very nice. Wish I could speak Italian so I could therefore speak English with the same accent he has. Think I’d like to learn Italian. He was on duty when we checked in, took us to our room, opened the balcony doors, showed us how to use the big old heavy key to unlock and lock our door and then stick it in the holder by the door which allows electricity to turn on. (Same with the key cards from other hotels.) We turn the key into the desk each time we leave the hotel. The huge, heavy wooden doors into the building stand open all day and lock in the evening, but you buzz the hotel and they unlock the door. The one elevator (lift) is tiny. You open the lift’s metal door, then its French doors to enter … close the 3 doors and ride to 4th. Have to remember to close the 3 doors when you exit, otherwise it can’t go. Three women from France squeezed themselves into it last night with a couple small bags, but the man with his bag and backpack rode up with Joe and me.
There’s one hotel computer for guests but internet is spotty. Samy gave Melinda the hotel password so she can use her computer in the reception area. Am writing on her computer and will copy and paste into an email to send when it’s up and running. I know this is long, but it’s also my journaling. Haven’t written about Tuesday … the National Museum or Wednesday … the Colosseum, which is unbelievable, Roman Forum, standing where Julius Caesar was assassinated, standing where his funeral was held ... monuments and statues and ruins and all this in the center of Rome … the Pantheon that evening … we had taken the metro in the morning and walked from spot to spot to spot to spot, then home. Thursday … St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square ... seeing where St. Peter was crucified (though a couple or more layers above it), looking at the spot where he was buried, under the church … Trevi Fountain … watched a whole class of kids stand in front of it and toss a coin over their shoulders.
Rather than eat supper at 9 pm or later, twice we’ve bought fresh crusty bread, a hunk of cheese and wine and had it here. Not sure what tonight will hold other than packing to leave. At the moment, Melinda is sleeping and Joe is watching the BBC. We don’t have a clue what’s happening in the U.S., Nebraska or Lexington. Melinda misses her University of Duesto friends and was sad at saying good-bye to Amelia. She said Spanish people don’t hug, but she gave Amelia a bear hug and Amelia fought back tears. She was exceptionally kind and loving to Melinda for 4 months … doted on her … and Melinda thinks Amelia may request another foreign student. Melinda was her first. Amelia is tiny and energetic and speaks very fast … we spent an hour in her apartment one evening in Bilbao. She served us wine and pate, crusty bread and appetizers of some sort. Neither she nor Carlos (her husband, Melinda called him Carl) ate with us. Melinda said it’s the way they do it. They serve guests, don’t eat with them. Though they must eat with dinner guests … we weren’t officially dinner guests. Joy Roos and Melinda were translating between Amelia, Carlos, Joe and me until conversation was whirling around and Joy started speaking Spanish to me. At 10 pm that evening, Joe, Melinda and I walked to the Crazy Horse bar, had a glass of beer and split one hamburger … tiny sliver of meat but I buy round loaves of crusty bread that look like that bun. Enough for now. Linda
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Last Bilabo Post...bittersweet
I want to thank all of you who have been reading my blog. This is my last Bilbao blog....sad, I know. This whole experience has been more amazing than I can explain. It was changed me in a way that will affect me for the rest of my life….for the better of course :)
My parents arrived in Bilbao on Tuesday night and we left for Barcelona Saturday morning. Friday night we had our goodbye ceremony and party for the college. It was tough to say good bye to teachers and friends, but I’d like to think of it more as a “see you later”…because we all know we will at some point. Saturday morning my parents and I left for Barcelona. I knew saying goodbye to Amelia would be one of the hardest things…and it was. As we said our final goodbyes before we got in the taxi …she started to cry and she told me to write her and send her pictures (which of course I will). She was the best host mom I could have had….I am so glad we connected like we did.
While in the airport waiting for my parents I made a list that I wanted to add in with my last blog….so here we go.
Eleven Things I’ve Learning While Studying Abroad in Spain!!
11. The Rain in Spain falls mainly in Bilbao.
1o. Red wine and Coke really do go together! …try it, you will be surprised :)!
9. Public Transportation = a love and hate relationship.
8. Trust Random people….they may surprise you.
7. Always keep kleenix in your purse…it comes in handy for more than just blowing your nose.
6. Speaking Spanish isn’t as terrifying as you may once believe.
5. You can make a home out of anywhere you are.
4. Be careful or else you may have to buy a new camera…..twice.
3. Life-long friends can be made in 5 months.
2. Saying you are full to your host mom doesn’t ever matter…she will always make you eat the flan.
1. Studying abroad is a life changing experience full of fun, laughter, mistakes, learning and growing.
Thanks again to all you readers!
Love you guys! I will be seeing you in less than 2 weeks...yayayayaya
Xoxoxoxoxox -Mel
My parents arrived in Bilbao on Tuesday night and we left for Barcelona Saturday morning. Friday night we had our goodbye ceremony and party for the college. It was tough to say good bye to teachers and friends, but I’d like to think of it more as a “see you later”…because we all know we will at some point. Saturday morning my parents and I left for Barcelona. I knew saying goodbye to Amelia would be one of the hardest things…and it was. As we said our final goodbyes before we got in the taxi …she started to cry and she told me to write her and send her pictures (which of course I will). She was the best host mom I could have had….I am so glad we connected like we did.
While in the airport waiting for my parents I made a list that I wanted to add in with my last blog….so here we go.
Eleven Things I’ve Learning While Studying Abroad in Spain!!
11. The Rain in Spain falls mainly in Bilbao.
1o. Red wine and Coke really do go together! …try it, you will be surprised :)!
9. Public Transportation = a love and hate relationship.
8. Trust Random people….they may surprise you.
7. Always keep kleenix in your purse…it comes in handy for more than just blowing your nose.
6. Speaking Spanish isn’t as terrifying as you may once believe.
5. You can make a home out of anywhere you are.
4. Be careful or else you may have to buy a new camera…..twice.
3. Life-long friends can be made in 5 months.
2. Saying you are full to your host mom doesn’t ever matter…she will always make you eat the flan.
1. Studying abroad is a life changing experience full of fun, laughter, mistakes, learning and growing.
Thanks again to all you readers!
Love you guys! I will be seeing you in less than 2 weeks...yayayayaya
Xoxoxoxoxox -Mel
Barcelona and Canary Islands
Well these last couple weeks have been pretty darn full and I obviously haven’t done a very good job keeping up with the ol blog. So here we go….this is my last couple of weeks in a nut shell. Sorry it is soooo late.
The week after my birthday (April 20th) I flew to Barcelona for a couple days to see my friend Chris who is studying in the Checkz Republic but was on Spring break. It was the first time I have flown alone, but it went very smoothly. While waiting for my delayed plane in the Bilbao airport that Tuesday night I met a couple that were probably in their late 50’s who were from Ohio and were on my flight to Barcelona as well. The man, a University professor, was on sabbatical and so they were living in Barcelona for a couple of months. They were very nice and we talked for quite a while waiting for our plane. I then asked them if they knew where my hostel was because all I had was an address and I wasn’t quite sure how to get there once I got off the plane. The guy pulled out his blackberry, google-maped it, and then they gave me very good details on how to take the bus from the airport to a certain plaza and then they said there would be taxi’s there…and by doing this it would save me about 20 euros….it sure did….everything went very smoothly….what a blessing that couple was!
Getting to the hostel it was very good to see Chris….always nice to see someone from home when you haven’t been there for so long. That night we went to a club….it was decent....hung out for awhile and then headed back to the hostel. Being the only one who could speak Spanish I was the one directing the Taxi’s for that weekend…I assume I did ok considering we always made it back to the hostel. But to be honest it felt good to be the only one cause it made me speak up.
The next day we headed to the beach. It was sunny but windy so it was blazing hot. Chris was super smart the day before and got fried and looked like a lobster but he said that he wanted to go anyway…(I know im safe putting that in here because he put it in his… ). We laid at the beach for awhile but then it began to get to cold because Chris was burnt so badly so we went and got something to eat at a Chinese Restaurant and then went back to the hostel. We then tried watching a movie but failed and fell asleep for awhile. After waking up Chris and I wanted to cook supper so we found a tiny grocery store and bought stuff to make pasta and cheese bread. After supper Chris and I headed to a club which I thought was the best one of the week.
The next day we did the same relaxing thing and just hung out and what not. Then for supper we did the cooking thing again and so we went to a better grocery store and bought stuff for steak tacos. We cooked….which I can thank Chris for considering I don’t like to touch raw meat….and then we got ready to go out that night with the whole group (all of Chris’s friends that were with him). We started off at one club and then half way through the night we went to the Catwalk which is supposed to be one of the best clubs in Barcelona. It was pretty good…..but the best thing about going out for the night life we got in free to every place because of the hostel we were staying at….pretty nice.
The next day was our last day in Barcelona….Chris and I walked around outside for awhile, got lunch, and then headed back because his flight was a couple hours earlier than mine and at an airport that was outside the city. I then chilled alone for awhile and then headed to the Barcelona airport to head back to Bilbao. Over all it was a great couple of days…thanks Chris for having Spring break in Barcelona!!
The next day (Saturday) was one of my friend’s 21st birthday….so of course we had a good ol American celebration for that. During the day a group of us went to the beach for the day. It was such a nice day to lay in the sand. Then Catherine, Ali, and I decided that we would test out the waters….it was a solid 40-45 degrees, but we went in anyway….I mean after you are completely numb you cant really feel much. Then after the beach, Carmina and Mo (friends from Cali) made a good Mexican dinner for a group of us and then we went out. Good night!
That next week we all wanted to pass by quickly because on Thursday we were heading to the Canary Islands for the weekend. It was by far one of my favorite trips! We took the bus on Thursday night from Bilbao to Madrid and then early Friday morning we flew from Madrid to the Canaries. Getting to our hotel we really didn’t know what to expect but it was very nice…each room had two single beds and a little mini kitchen and a bathroom….and it was cheap which was surprising for as nice as it was. It also had a really nice pool area. So the first day we spent some time by the pool while we ate lunch and then headed to the beach. All of the beached on this particular island are black except one. We laid on the beach for a couple hours and of course swam as well…the water was a little chilly but not nearly as cold as Bilbao’s Bay of Biscay. After the beach we headed back to the hotel and took a nap considering the night before was pretty much sleepless between being on the bus and in the Madrid airport. After our nap we …well Catherine and Mo cooked dinner….quesadillas and veggies….perfecto. Then that night we all sat around in one of the rooms and played games and just hung out with the intentions on going out later considering Ali was going to turn 21 at midnight….(this weekend we celebrated two 21st birthday….Ali’s on May 1st and Morgan’s on May 2nd).
While in the room a couple of the girls had left to go get something out of their rooms and they came back saying that they had been robbed and that we needed to go check our rooms. So we went down to our rooms and sure enough other rooms had been touched. We had four rooms on the 2nd room but each were conjoined with one so we left the dividing doors open so we basically had two big rooms. In one pair of the conjoined rooms a I-touch (ipod) and an American cell phone had been stolen and in the other conjoined room (which was mine) a total of 300 euros and a returning bus ticket from Madrid to Bilbao had been stolen. Luckily enough that was only in one of the rooms…which happened to be the room I wasn’t in. Plus I had all my important stuff with me so the only thing they could have taken of mine were my clothes or shampoo haha…..they apparently didn’t want either. This was a pretty much the ultimate party killer so we all decided to go to bed and sleep it off and get up and start the morning fresh.
The next day four of us girls (out of 13 total) wanted to rent a car so we could take our time and be on our own schedule to go see all of the historical stuff. So Ali, Gracie, Catherine, and I headed to a car rental place that was near our hotel and asked them if this would be possible. They told us that you needed to be 25 to rent a car and that all the cars are stick. We then told them that our only person who knew how to drive stick was only 20 and they said that there was one car that they could let us rent because of our age. We were shocked that they were allowing us to do this considering we were “of age” but we decided to have a look at the car. I think we all maybe burst out laughing…it was one of the smallest cars I have ever seen…but we did some contemplating and we decided to do it. The other funny thing about this was that Catherine (the only one who knew how to drive stick) has never driven on a highway or interstate (because she is from St. Thomas…a small island in the Virgin Islands...and so she has never needed too) but she was our only option. It took a little convincing of me that this would work…but we decided to do it and I am so glad we did.
So we were shown were to go by the guy at the rental place and then we hit the road. We wanted to first go to Teide the Volcano on the island. It takes about an hour and a half to two hours to get there but its all driving up in the mountains and it is sooo gorgeous. At times we would just pull over along the side of the road and get out, take pictures, and then just sit in the silence. It was wonderful! I felt like my family for doing this, because I know that if I was with my mom we would have done the same thing….get out of the car….take pictures….and just take in the beauty of it all.
Once we got to the Volcano we called Mo, Megan, and Carmina to see where they were at because they had taken the bus to get there instead of renting a car. They happened to be at the Volcano at the same time so we met up with them. After the Volcano we decided to drive around for awhile and then go to The Cliffs. It was crazy to see how much volcanic rock was everywhere and also to see random trees and flowers growing up in between the piles and piles of rock. Seeing The Cliffs was amazing…pictures do not do them justice on how beautiful they really are. We decided to eat at a restaurant by the cliffs since it was about 4 and we hadn’t had any lunch. After the cliffs we decided to head back to the hotel. A little over half way back we became a little distracted and stopped at a beach. It was the most beautiful black sand beach I have ever seen. The sand was verrrry black. Ali and Gracie got in the water to swim and Catherine and I just laid in the sand and soaked up some sun.
After the beach we then headed back to the hotel.
We got cleaned up and then headed to one of the rooms were everyone else was. That night we had decided that we wanted to do Karaoke. This was by far one of the funniest parts of the weekend. We sang everything from Spice Girls to Jackson Five. It was very entertaining. After Karaoke we headed to a different club and stayed there until they closed. Then after that Gracie, Mo, Ali, and I wanted to go walk along the beach. There was nobody out there and it was so peaceful. We stayed out there for about an hour and a half and walked up and down the beach in the water. Great ending to a great night.
The next day was our last full day and Gracie’s last day…she had to get back to Rome to take finals. Us girls loaded up in the car again and did so touring before we had to drop her off at the airport. Our touring of course happened to get us lost….we missed our exit because we were talking….imagine that. BUT we were thankful because getting lost led us to see the only white sand beach on the island. It was gorgeous! Then before heading to the airport we stopped at this little family owned restaurant that was packed full of families (because it was Mother’s day in Spain) but there was a small table open so we sat down and ordered some oysters and bread. The food was amazing and the service was sooo good. The guys who owned it were very friendly and talked with us as if they had known us for years.
After dropping Gracie off at the airport we went and met up with Carmina, Mo, and Megan and they joined us in our little but hearty car. We did some more touring…went to see the natural pools which were soooo gorgeous and we stayed there until the sun went down. We then went back to our hotel to pack and get ready to leave early for the airport. We got back into Bilbao at about 8 that night.
The week after my birthday (April 20th) I flew to Barcelona for a couple days to see my friend Chris who is studying in the Checkz Republic but was on Spring break. It was the first time I have flown alone, but it went very smoothly. While waiting for my delayed plane in the Bilbao airport that Tuesday night I met a couple that were probably in their late 50’s who were from Ohio and were on my flight to Barcelona as well. The man, a University professor, was on sabbatical and so they were living in Barcelona for a couple of months. They were very nice and we talked for quite a while waiting for our plane. I then asked them if they knew where my hostel was because all I had was an address and I wasn’t quite sure how to get there once I got off the plane. The guy pulled out his blackberry, google-maped it, and then they gave me very good details on how to take the bus from the airport to a certain plaza and then they said there would be taxi’s there…and by doing this it would save me about 20 euros….it sure did….everything went very smoothly….what a blessing that couple was!
Getting to the hostel it was very good to see Chris….always nice to see someone from home when you haven’t been there for so long. That night we went to a club….it was decent....hung out for awhile and then headed back to the hostel. Being the only one who could speak Spanish I was the one directing the Taxi’s for that weekend…I assume I did ok considering we always made it back to the hostel. But to be honest it felt good to be the only one cause it made me speak up.
The next day we headed to the beach. It was sunny but windy so it was blazing hot. Chris was super smart the day before and got fried and looked like a lobster but he said that he wanted to go anyway…(I know im safe putting that in here because he put it in his… ). We laid at the beach for awhile but then it began to get to cold because Chris was burnt so badly so we went and got something to eat at a Chinese Restaurant and then went back to the hostel. We then tried watching a movie but failed and fell asleep for awhile. After waking up Chris and I wanted to cook supper so we found a tiny grocery store and bought stuff to make pasta and cheese bread. After supper Chris and I headed to a club which I thought was the best one of the week.
The next day we did the same relaxing thing and just hung out and what not. Then for supper we did the cooking thing again and so we went to a better grocery store and bought stuff for steak tacos. We cooked….which I can thank Chris for considering I don’t like to touch raw meat….and then we got ready to go out that night with the whole group (all of Chris’s friends that were with him). We started off at one club and then half way through the night we went to the Catwalk which is supposed to be one of the best clubs in Barcelona. It was pretty good…..but the best thing about going out for the night life we got in free to every place because of the hostel we were staying at….pretty nice.
The next day was our last day in Barcelona….Chris and I walked around outside for awhile, got lunch, and then headed back because his flight was a couple hours earlier than mine and at an airport that was outside the city. I then chilled alone for awhile and then headed to the Barcelona airport to head back to Bilbao. Over all it was a great couple of days…thanks Chris for having Spring break in Barcelona!!
The next day (Saturday) was one of my friend’s 21st birthday….so of course we had a good ol American celebration for that. During the day a group of us went to the beach for the day. It was such a nice day to lay in the sand. Then Catherine, Ali, and I decided that we would test out the waters….it was a solid 40-45 degrees, but we went in anyway….I mean after you are completely numb you cant really feel much. Then after the beach, Carmina and Mo (friends from Cali) made a good Mexican dinner for a group of us and then we went out. Good night!
That next week we all wanted to pass by quickly because on Thursday we were heading to the Canary Islands for the weekend. It was by far one of my favorite trips! We took the bus on Thursday night from Bilbao to Madrid and then early Friday morning we flew from Madrid to the Canaries. Getting to our hotel we really didn’t know what to expect but it was very nice…each room had two single beds and a little mini kitchen and a bathroom….and it was cheap which was surprising for as nice as it was. It also had a really nice pool area. So the first day we spent some time by the pool while we ate lunch and then headed to the beach. All of the beached on this particular island are black except one. We laid on the beach for a couple hours and of course swam as well…the water was a little chilly but not nearly as cold as Bilbao’s Bay of Biscay. After the beach we headed back to the hotel and took a nap considering the night before was pretty much sleepless between being on the bus and in the Madrid airport. After our nap we …well Catherine and Mo cooked dinner….quesadillas and veggies….perfecto. Then that night we all sat around in one of the rooms and played games and just hung out with the intentions on going out later considering Ali was going to turn 21 at midnight….(this weekend we celebrated two 21st birthday….Ali’s on May 1st and Morgan’s on May 2nd).
While in the room a couple of the girls had left to go get something out of their rooms and they came back saying that they had been robbed and that we needed to go check our rooms. So we went down to our rooms and sure enough other rooms had been touched. We had four rooms on the 2nd room but each were conjoined with one so we left the dividing doors open so we basically had two big rooms. In one pair of the conjoined rooms a I-touch (ipod) and an American cell phone had been stolen and in the other conjoined room (which was mine) a total of 300 euros and a returning bus ticket from Madrid to Bilbao had been stolen. Luckily enough that was only in one of the rooms…which happened to be the room I wasn’t in. Plus I had all my important stuff with me so the only thing they could have taken of mine were my clothes or shampoo haha…..they apparently didn’t want either. This was a pretty much the ultimate party killer so we all decided to go to bed and sleep it off and get up and start the morning fresh.
The next day four of us girls (out of 13 total) wanted to rent a car so we could take our time and be on our own schedule to go see all of the historical stuff. So Ali, Gracie, Catherine, and I headed to a car rental place that was near our hotel and asked them if this would be possible. They told us that you needed to be 25 to rent a car and that all the cars are stick. We then told them that our only person who knew how to drive stick was only 20 and they said that there was one car that they could let us rent because of our age. We were shocked that they were allowing us to do this considering we were “of age” but we decided to have a look at the car. I think we all maybe burst out laughing…it was one of the smallest cars I have ever seen…but we did some contemplating and we decided to do it. The other funny thing about this was that Catherine (the only one who knew how to drive stick) has never driven on a highway or interstate (because she is from St. Thomas…a small island in the Virgin Islands...and so she has never needed too) but she was our only option. It took a little convincing of me that this would work…but we decided to do it and I am so glad we did.
So we were shown were to go by the guy at the rental place and then we hit the road. We wanted to first go to Teide the Volcano on the island. It takes about an hour and a half to two hours to get there but its all driving up in the mountains and it is sooo gorgeous. At times we would just pull over along the side of the road and get out, take pictures, and then just sit in the silence. It was wonderful! I felt like my family for doing this, because I know that if I was with my mom we would have done the same thing….get out of the car….take pictures….and just take in the beauty of it all.
Once we got to the Volcano we called Mo, Megan, and Carmina to see where they were at because they had taken the bus to get there instead of renting a car. They happened to be at the Volcano at the same time so we met up with them. After the Volcano we decided to drive around for awhile and then go to The Cliffs. It was crazy to see how much volcanic rock was everywhere and also to see random trees and flowers growing up in between the piles and piles of rock. Seeing The Cliffs was amazing…pictures do not do them justice on how beautiful they really are. We decided to eat at a restaurant by the cliffs since it was about 4 and we hadn’t had any lunch. After the cliffs we decided to head back to the hotel. A little over half way back we became a little distracted and stopped at a beach. It was the most beautiful black sand beach I have ever seen. The sand was verrrry black. Ali and Gracie got in the water to swim and Catherine and I just laid in the sand and soaked up some sun.
After the beach we then headed back to the hotel.
We got cleaned up and then headed to one of the rooms were everyone else was. That night we had decided that we wanted to do Karaoke. This was by far one of the funniest parts of the weekend. We sang everything from Spice Girls to Jackson Five. It was very entertaining. After Karaoke we headed to a different club and stayed there until they closed. Then after that Gracie, Mo, Ali, and I wanted to go walk along the beach. There was nobody out there and it was so peaceful. We stayed out there for about an hour and a half and walked up and down the beach in the water. Great ending to a great night.
The next day was our last full day and Gracie’s last day…she had to get back to Rome to take finals. Us girls loaded up in the car again and did so touring before we had to drop her off at the airport. Our touring of course happened to get us lost….we missed our exit because we were talking….imagine that. BUT we were thankful because getting lost led us to see the only white sand beach on the island. It was gorgeous! Then before heading to the airport we stopped at this little family owned restaurant that was packed full of families (because it was Mother’s day in Spain) but there was a small table open so we sat down and ordered some oysters and bread. The food was amazing and the service was sooo good. The guys who owned it were very friendly and talked with us as if they had known us for years.
After dropping Gracie off at the airport we went and met up with Carmina, Mo, and Megan and they joined us in our little but hearty car. We did some more touring…went to see the natural pools which were soooo gorgeous and we stayed there until the sun went down. We then went back to our hotel to pack and get ready to leave early for the airport. We got back into Bilbao at about 8 that night.
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